Tourism, Community Resilience

& Cultural Ecosystem Services

in Taiwan’s Wetlands

Alan A. Lew

Geography, Planning & Recreation

Northern Arizona University

53rd Toayaka Program Seminar

Hiroshima University21 October 2015

with

Tsung-chiung Emily Wu, National Donghua University

Chin-cheng Nickel Ni, National Hsin Chu Univ of Education

Pin T. Ng, Northern Arizona University

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ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (ES)

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (ES)=BENEFITS PEOPLE OBTAIN FROM NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS

THE ES PROBLEM

• Nature provides services to us for free

• The consumption of ecosystem goods is much easier than their conservation

Liberal Economic Theory

= the economics of “Private Goods”

• Property Rights are well defined

• People Own the Benefits & Costs of their goods

• the Free Market regulates their Value through Prices

• A Private Good’s Value is revealed when

someone pays a price for it

= Efficient & Optimal Distribution

A private

Guava Tree in

Wuweigang

WELFARE ECONOMIC THEORY

= The Economics of “Public Goods” (public welfare)

1-Non-Exclusion: Cannot exclude people from consuming

- Too Costly or Difficult

2-Non-Rivalry: Many people can consume at same time

- Property Rights are Not Clear & Specific

- Everyone Shares Benefits & Costs

• Examples:

• air, roads, traffic signsstable government, the history of a place -->

- who owns these? - who benefits from them?

Also known as: Collective Goods, Common Goods, Club Goods, Common-pool Resources & Social Goods

Historical Museum items at Wuweigang Wetland

NATURAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICESPROVIDED BY COASTAL WETLANDS

• Flood Protection

• Erosion Control

• Wildlife Food & Habitat

• Migratory Bird Flyways -->

• Food for Fisheries

• Water Purification

• Water Supply

• Carbon Sequestration

CULTURAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICESPROVIDED BY WETLANDS

• Food for Humans:

• Fishing, Hunting, Foraging;

Agriculture (rice), Salt

production

• Raw Materials for Humans

• Cultural Landscape

• Fishing, Fisheries, Heritage

Structures, including dams,

waterways, buildings,

elements of traditional

livelihoods

• Leisure & Health

• Environmental & Cultural

Education

• Spiritual & Religious Uses

• Inspiration for Art, Music,

Literature & Folklore

• Recreation & Tourism

• Canoeing & kayaking;

Wildlife viewing &

photography; Fishing &

hunting

• Beautiful & Aesthetics Scenery

• Heritage Livelihoods

Wuweigang Wetland

Ecosystem Services Assessments

Potential Annual Economic Impact Coral Reef Loss in the Caribbean Sea from Climate Change

WAYS TO PROTECT ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

• Direct Management (Aogu)

• Full or Partial Purchase (ownership)

• Public (government) or Private

• Direct Government Regulation

• Forced Police Power (rules & laws)

• Political Influence (legislation)

• Indirect Government Incentives

• Financial Subsidies,

Reduced Taxes, Public Auctions

• Public-Private Partnerships

• Direct Financial Incentives

• Grants to Encourage Proper Management (Wuweigang)

• Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)

At AoguWetland

TWO WETLANDS IN TAIWAN

• Wuweigang (no tail river/port)

Bird Sanctuary & Wetland• River, Lake, Forest, Swamp, Sand

Beach, Upland, Birds

• 102 hectares• Former Net Fishing & Hunting• Community Involved: 1986• Environmental NGO

• Aogu (sea turtle drum)

Wetland & Forest Park• Marsh, Lagoons, Mud Beaches,

Forest, Birds• 1,470 hectares• Active Fisheries & Oyster Beds

• Community Involved: 2010• Master Planned (Forest Bureau)• Remote

WUWEIGANG• 1986 Power Plant proposed just north of the wetland

• Successful community organizing & protests

• Wetland Protected Area established 1993

• Pride in Protest Success still today

• Wuweigang Culture & Educational Association founded in 1997

• Local Conservation NGO

• Community-Based Environmental Monitoring & Management

• Interpretive Guiding & Birding

• Today

• Designated by government as an official Environmental Education Center

• Serves Education, Community & Government Groups from around Taiwan

• Complicated Politics

• Three Communities

• Two Community Associations & one NGO

• Many Outside Advisors over the years

• 3 interviews – 4 community leaders

WUWEIGANG BIRD SANCTUARY

& WETLAND

Further human

modifications after 1995 to

water and plants

AOGU• 1964 – Reclaimed from sea by a sea wall encircling a mud flat

• Sugar plantation, Fisheries & Pig farm

• 1990s - Taiwan Sugar Co. gradually abandoned due to Soil Salinization & Global Trade Competition

• Land subsidence & Seawall breaches

• A Pig Farm (30,000 pigs) is still in operation

• 2001 - Taiwan Forestry Bureau started a Afforestation programto help Sequester Carbon & provide Recreation Space

• National Environmental Policy to create Forest Reserves – total 6 reserves in Taiwan

• 2013 - Taiwan Forestry Bureau funded“Aogu Forest & Wetland Park Master Plan”

• Visitors Center, Bird Watching Stations

• Bird Guide Training

• Community Education outreach to Fisheries and Oyster Farmers

• 2 Interviews – 4 respondents

AOGU WETLAND AND FOREST PARK

AOGU

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

IN AOGU &

WUWEIGANG

SupportingServices

Fish habitat; Soil formation, Nutrient cycling

ProvisioningServices

Food for Humans (fishing, foraging & hunting);

Raw materials (driftwood)

RegulatingServices

Climate regulation (vegetation, trees, water); Carbon

sequestration; Flood prevention (from typhoons);

Soil stabilization

Cultural

Services

Recreation & Ecotourism; Aesthetics & Inspiration

(photography, bird viewing); Sense of Place;

Education; Cultural Landscape; Destination Image

In terms of local Quality of Life,

Cultural Services are, by far, the

dominant Ecosystem Service of

these Wetlands

SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCE

Principles of Sustainability:

1. Long Term - Intergenerational Equity

2. Holistic Planning - Economic, Environmental & Social

3. Preserving Ecological Processes

4. Protecting Biodiversity

5. Protecting Human Heritage

6. Fairness & Opportunity among Nations

Using resources to meet the needs of contemporary society while ensuring their availability to meet the

needs of future generations.(Brundtland Report 1987) AOGU

7 PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

1. Maintain Diversity & Redundancy

2. Manage Connectivity

3. Manage Slow Variables & Feedbacks

4. Foster Complex Adaptive Systems Thinking

5. Encourage Learning

6. Broaden Participation

7. Promote Polycentric Governance Systems

Source: Applying Resilience Thinking

(http://StockholmResilience.org)

SUSTAINABILITY & RESILIENCE

Sustainability Resilience

Assumption: Stability & Balance are the

Norm (or are at least possible)

Assumption: Nonlinear & Unpredictable

Change & Chaos are the Norm

Research Focus: Environmental & Social Impacts of Economic Development; Over use of Resources; Carbon Footprints

Research Focus: Natural & Human Disaster Management; Climate Change Impacts; Social Capital & Networks

Methods: “Wise Use” Resource

Management; Preservation Against

Change; Recycling & “Greening”; Education

for Behavior Change

Methods: Reducing Vulnerability &

Increasing Physical & Social Capacity for

Change (flexibility & redundancy); Education for

Innovation

Goals: Normative Ideals (Culture, Environment& Economic balance; Intergenerational Equity; Fairness)

Goals: Quantitative Equilibrium; System Models (Evolutionary Complex Adaptive Systems; Path Dependence; Innovation)

Criticism: Poorly Defined & Very Political Criticism: Does Not Fix Causes of Change

SIMILARITES

Assumptions: Harmony between Human Society & the Natural Environment is Possible

Research Focus: Community Development; Ecology; Climate Change

Methods: Climate Change Policies & Actions; Education & Learning as an Implementation Tool

Goals: System Survivability (Social & Bio-Diversity); Sense of Place & Belonging

(Heritage)

Change Rate

Ge

og

rap

hic

Sca

le

1.Slow ChangeImpacting anEconomic Sector

3.Fast ChangeImpacting anEconomic Sector

4.Fast ChangeimpactingCommunity

2.Slow ChangeimpactingCommunity

GEOGRAPHIC SCALES of RESILIENCE

Global Resilience

International - Regional

National Resilience

Province/ Urban - Regional

Community Resilience

Enterprise / Institutional

Family / Work Group

Individual Resilience

Scale, Change & The 4 Faces of

Community Resilience Based on Lew, 2013

Slow FastChange Rate

Sca

leT

ou

rism

Se

cto

r

C

om

mu

nit

y

1.

Management Resilience &Sustainability

3.

Planning Resilience & Sustainability

4.

Governance Resilience & Sustainability

2. Resource Resilience & Sustainability

The 4 Faces of Resilience &

Sustainability FORMS of TOURISM

SUSTAINABILITY

1. Maintaining the Tourism

Economy’s Facilities &

Service

2. Addressing Socio-

Cultural & Environmental

Impacts of Tourism

Activities [Conservation]

3. Greening the Tourism

Economy/Industry [as a

form of Diversification;

Environmental Footprint]

4. Tourism’s Contribution

to Quality of Life

Sustainability, especially

in Times of Need [Disaster]

GEOGRAPHIC CONTEXT OF AOGU & WUWEIGANG

Aogu Wuweigang

RESOURCE

SCALE

1- Large Area (1400 ha) – difficult

for direct local involvement in

resource management

2- More Remote – lower diversity of

support services available to

visitors; more traditional livelihoods

1- Small Area (140 ha) – easier for

direct local involvement in resource

management

2- Closer to Urban Centers – access

to larger market & job opportunities;

competition in nearby villages

POLITICAL

SCALE

a- New Planning Process (2010)

b- National Level Leadership Driven

- local participation in services only

c- Primary Support from Master Plan

Process - other grants smaller &

secondary to master plan - few

political divisions due to less local

involvement in master plan funding

a- Mature Planning Process (1980s)

b- Local Level Leadership Driven -

Local Participation in Resource

Management & Services

c- Primary Support from many Grants

& Advisors - increasing grant

competition – local political divisions

due to reduced funds

RESILIENCE & SUSTAINABILITY

INDICATORS1. Local Government Budgeting

• Building Community Capacity (Resilience)

• Conserving Community Resources (Sustainability)

2. Environmental Knowledge

• New Environmental Knowledge (Resilience)

• Traditional Environmental Uses (Sustainability)

3. Basic Social Well Being

• Improve Living Conditions & Employment (Resilience)

• Cultural Preservation & Traditions (Sustainability)

4. Social Networks & Social Capital

• Social Collaboration (Resilience)

• Social Welfare (Sustainability)

WUWEIGANG

1.LOCAL GOVT BUDGET INDICATORS

AOGU Wetland WUWEIGANG Wetland

3 Villages, with 3 Village

Associations

4 Villages, with 2 Village Associations

& an NGO

US$60,000 average/year in

government grants; plus Taiwan

National Forestry Bureau

US$70,000 average/year in

government grants

70% Infrastructure

15% Environmental Education

5% Senior Education & Health

5% Environmental Cleanup

55% Environmental Protection

27% Environmental Education

6% Health

2% Economic Development

1% Infrastructure

Tourism Economy: Interpretive

Guiding & Birding; Fishery

Education

Tourism Economy: Interpretive

Guiding & Birding; Environmental

Education Center; DIY Pizza & Food

Supplemental Income for Nature Interpreters

Not economically dependent on Tourism

AOGU

WUWEIGANG

2. ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE INDICATORS

AOGU Wetland WUWEIGANG Wetland

Elders have good knowledge of natural environment, younger people do not;

Ecotourism increased resident awareness, pride, and interested in local knowledge

- Trying to reduce chemical use

- People used to hate birds, but with

ecotourism, they now accept them

- In early days, many in resource

inventory & monitoring; fewer today, so

resource knowledge has declined

79% Environmental Resource Knowledge

45% Environmental Resource Use

20% Disaster Education

13% Environmental Education

1% Agricultural Education

73% Environmental Resource Knowledge

73% Environmental Resource Use

34% Agricultural Education19% Disaster Education

19% Environmental Education

- 48 residents trained as birding & nature

guides; High interest in next guide training

- National government built visitors

information & administrative center

- 40 to 50 members of WWG Association

(NGO) trained as nature interpreters & in

environmental monitoring

- Government certified Environmental

Education Center

Ecotourism pushed by the National

Forestry Bureau – policy in response to

global sustainability issues

Ecotourism pushed by the local NGO

Environmental Organization – formed in

protest to government

AOGU

AOGU

3. BASIC SOCIAL WELL BEING INDICATORS

AOGU Wetland WUWEIGANG Wetland

- Not rich, but not poor- Government payment to retired farmers; In-home care of elderly (lack of young people)

- Living condition is good, but very dependent on government grant funding (competitive)- Land ownership issues hinder development

4days Resources if a Disaster (no agriculture)2% Unemployed

44% Have Migrated for Employment 4% Tourism Employment

9min To Medical Care

64days Resources if a Disaster6% Unemployed

33% Have Migrated for Employment 4% Tourism Employment

4min To Medical Care

- People who want to work can- Good income from oyster & fish farming

- Most young people migrate out to find better jobs and do not return

- Younger generation cannot stay due to housing shortage (land ownership issues)- Can commute to work in nearby town- New apartments: 75% local owners, 25% cansell to outsiders (rare case)

- Tourism employment: Visitors Center,3 Restaurants; Part-time Nature Guides- In early stages of tourism development

- Wetland & Forest Park has significant potential for tourism development - Tourism has potential to retain youths in Aogu

- Tourism employment: Interpretation & Education, Shuttle bus, 5 BnBs (other village)- Main tourism income: Environmental Education & DIY Pizza; these support youth sports and elder welfare

- Long term profitability of tourism is in doubt

Tourism supplements income only. Tourist spending is limited, visits are short

WUWEIGANG

WUWEIGANG

4. SOCIAL NETWORKINDICATORS

AOGU Wetland WUWEIGANG Wetland

Temple & Family Relations bring people together socially

People support each other in need

- Social Networks are Very Good- Rural communities already know each

other very well

- Social Networks are OK- Political disagreements (national

elections)

- 99% Actively Involved in temple

activities

- 43-60% Receive Direct Social Benefits –

mostly elderly served by the temple

- Aogu is relatively rich, so no social

welfare groups have come into the

community

- 65-99% Actively Involved in temple

activities; people participate to get

blessings of the gods

- 27% Receive Direct Social Benefits –

mostly elderly served by the temple

Guide Training brings people together (see below for Wuweigang)

Wuweigang- Tourism might hurt social networks & relations due to the distribution of benefits &

funding – WWG is too small to effectively manage these issues

- Locals do not have true tourism businesses - very few benefit from tourism

- Many people coming for bird watching & tours, bringing negative impacts

- Participants in tourism support it; others experience may opposed tourism

WUWEIGANG

CHANGE AGENTS

Aogu Wuweigang

Fast Change (External -

Socioeconomic)

Withdrawal of Taiwan

Sugar Co. (1990s)

Proposed Power Plant

(1986-1993)

Medium Change (Economic

Globalization &

Climate Change)

Afforestation Plan (2000s)

Master Park Plan (2013)

Decline in Net Fishing

(2000s)

Changing Demographics (fewer youths)

(since 1970s & 80s)

Slow Change(ecological)

Change in Wetland Ecosystems & in Their Uses

(on going)

RESILIENCE & SUSTAINABILITY

SCALE & RESILIENCE

AOGU WUWEIGANG

SCALE (community)

Mostly National Level Mostly Local Level

1.Management (facilities)

Constructing Visitor Infrastructure;

Providing Interpretive & Other Guest Services

2.Resource(with consultants)

Master Plan; High Local

Resource UseCommunity-based

Resource Monitoring

3.Planning(local goals)

Community Traditions & Relationships

Participation, Pride & Sense of Place (Vision)

4.Governance(national goals)

Resource Reclamation & Maintenance;

Sustainable Environment Education; Elder Care

AOGU

RESILIENCE & SUSTAINABILITY

RESILIENCE VULNERABILITIES

AOGU WUWEIGANG

1.Management (facilities)

Dependent on National Level Policies for Funding

2.Resource(protection)

Low Local Involvement in

Resource Management

Less Funding = Less

Community Monitoring

3.Planning(local goals)

Low Local Involvement in

Master Plan

Divisions between Tourism &

Non-Tourism Interests

4.Governance(national goals)

Funding Issues Slowing

Master Plan Implementation

Political Shifts change

Policies & Funding; Local

distrust of National Govt

AOGU

LESSONSFOR

RESILIENCE & SUSTAINABILITY

SCALE “Community” Scales range from Local to National;

Development Drivers can come from Multiple Levels

CHANGE

(variables)

FAST = Organizational Change (govt. & companies)

MEDIUM = Social & Economic; Resource Management

SLOW = Ecosystem Change; Traditional Culture

CHANGE

(complexity)

Complexity Increases with Time

and the Number of Actors Involved

1.Management Government Funding is Key to Success for Rural Places

2.Resource Resource Conservation Approach

reflects Funding History & Experience

3.Planning Tourism is Closely Related to Community Pride;

Local Participation Strengthens Pride & Tourism

4.Governance Central Government has Ultimate Responsibility for

Resource Management & Social Services

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More: http://TourismCommunities.com

WUWEIGANG